North Korea's Kim Jong-un used his New Year's Day address to extend an olive branch to South Korea. In his televised message, Kim offered to hold high-level talks with the South — if certain conditions are met.

Ever since NASA mothballed the Space Shuttle, it hasn't flown a spaceship. That will change on Thursday morning, when it test-launches the Orion space capsule, which is designed for possible Mars travel . Meanwhile, South Korea intends to rankle North Korea with another large Christmas tree in the DMZ. And a new ranking of government corruption gives the US middling marks.

Every year in South Korea, high school seniors are faced with the biggest challenge of their young lives — college entrance exams. Teens are told their whole futures depend on how well they score, and the entire country works to accommodate the stressed out test takers.

India's new prime minister wants to clean up his country — and he's making all of his underlings go along with it. A leader in Delhi, though, may have missed the point. That story and more in today's Global Scan.

Six months after the ferry crash that killed nearly 300 people, among them many high school students, South Korea is considering executing the vessel's captain. It would be the country's first use of capital punishment in almost 20 years, but many South Koreans simply want to move on.

The Pentagon has been stepping up its efforts to reinforce Kurdish forces in Iraq and Syria as they battle ISIS terrorists. An airdrop in Kobane this week was meant to bolster them at a crucial time, unfortunately some of the supplies went off target. Plus a look at how humans came to eat dairy and a prohibition on kissing at a Zimbabwe university. Those stories in today's Global Scan.

Kim Jong-Un has apparently been watching The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. After North Korea threatened yet again to bomb a huge tower lit up like a Christmas tree, South Korea finally took it down. But the timing seems fishy to observers.

SungWoo Lee is a baseball superfan from Seoul, South Korea. He travelled to Kansas City this year to see his favorite team, the Royals, play and he may have brought a little magic with him. So now he's on his way back for the World Series.

A deadly virus that first emerged in the Middle East has hit South Korea, where three people have died so far. Authorities have closed hundreds of schools and universities. But is that really necessary?

Kim Jong-Un has apparently been watching The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. After North Korea threatened yet again to bomb a huge tower lit up like a Christmas tree, South Korea finally took it down. But the timing seems fishy to observers.

A Dutch company is trying to organize a mission to Mars – four people on a one-way trip. Now, some Islamic clerics say people who go on the mission and die would face punishment in the afterlife. Plus "Tweaa" can no longer be said in Ghana's Parliament, and a work of art is trashed, literally, in today's Global Scan.

Decadence takes many forms. In China, some display their wealth by killing tigers at parties. Chinese officials are trying to stop the practice. In the UK, military officials are under fire for using pigs to test body armor and train medical personnel. And Taiwan's students protest with sunflowers, in today's Global Scan.

Today, the country's president called the actions of the captain and crew of the ferry "tantamount to murder." More details of the tragedy are emerging which seem to point to a series of bad decisions after the ship began sinking.

Yeonmi Park fled North Korea when she was 14. She risked her life, crossed three mountains and a frozen lake to get to China and eventually to South Korea. Now she says she wants to raise awareness about the people she left behind.

Ukraine's protesters suspend clashes to negotiate with President Viktor Yanukovich, while China's leadership scrambles to block the web and keep their secret offshore bank accounts from being revealed to Chinese citizens. Curling gets fancy at the Sochi Olympics and South Korea welcomes Canadian hockey players in its bid to qualify for the next Winter Olympics. All that and more, in today's Global Scan.

One of the largest living elephants was killed by poachers recently, a blow to Kenyans who had come to greatly respect the elephant for his cunning, in addition to his stature. That and more in today's Global Scan.

SungWoo Lee is a baseball superfan from Seoul, South Korea. He travelled to Kansas City this year to see his favorite team, the Royals, play and he may have brought a little magic with him. So now he's on his way back for the World Series.

Every year in South Korea, high school seniors are faced with the biggest challenge of their young lives — college entrance exams. Teens are told their whole futures depend on how well they score, and the entire country works to accommodate the stressed out test takers.

The melting of the Antarctic ice sheet is happening far faster than anyone previously thought. New research suggests Antarctica is releasing enough ice each year to make 9.8 quadrillion one-inch ice cubs — and that's contributing to a major increase in sea levels. Meanwhile, the violence in Nigeria is getting worse and French Catholic leaders are looking for donors. That and more in today's Global Scan.